Blogging on a Budget

I've always been pretty good at saving, but I'm even better at spending - which, when you're having to pay for a wedding just isn't possible! Blogging on a budget can be tough, generating exciting content when you can't afford to buy new things to blog about is hard is hard! Over the past few months I've found there are things that can be done to make blogging on a budget possible. I'm going to refer to beauty products throughout this post but it can be applied to any kind of blogging. 

1) Have regular clear outs and sell unwanted things

Doing this is one of the main ways I afford to buy new things. Two of my favourite ways to sell are through Depop or eBay. Yes it can be time consuming but the money soon adds up, and when you're on a budget the extra money comes in handy!

TIPS FOR SELLING ON DEPOP & EBAY

1) Be savvy with postage - If you're selling small items of clothing try and keep the packages flat and you will be able to send them as a large letter instead of a small parcel. This saves me over £2 per item! Also, if you are receiving PR packages then make sure you keep all of the packaging and reuse it to send out the items you have sold!

2) Take good pictures - Whether I'm selling on Depop or eBay, I've noticed the better the pictures the more that items seem to sell for. I try to make sure they are light and bright and do close ups of any important details that may add value to an item.

3) Schedule your listings - For eBay this is a big one! I always try and schedule my items so that the auction will end on a Sunday evening, more people are active at this time so actually able to bid and remember about the item you are selling!

2) Use savings cards

I think this is a pretty obvious one, but savings cards/ store cards really do make a difference! I think my absolute favourite is the Boots Advantage Card, they send through so many offers and deals and the points soon add up. Another good one to have is the Debenhams Beauty Card, they stock so many brands now and like the boots card the points soon add up meaning money off another purchase.

3) List the costs and benefits of purchasing items 

I remember when the amazing marble Hourglass palette came out. Honestly, I was absolutely gutted that I didn't have it in my collection. It's not that I couldn't afford that palette, in reality I could. However, it would have meant sacrificing something else for it and in the end I just couldn't part with the £70 just because I wanted to review it and share it with you guys.

I have started to list the costs and benefits of buying something either in my head or on a piece of paper and pretty much every single time I do this I will often talk myself out of making a purchase - if I really want something and can 100% justify it, I will never get to this stage in the first place! 

4) Actually keep a wishlist, if it's been on there for more than 3 months, consider getting it.

My last post was my spring wishlist, in the beauty section a lot of the things listed I have been lusting after for months! I know that when I do come to buy them I'll be likely to get the use out of it. Rather than an impulse purchase that will sit in the bottom of my makeup draw collecting dust.

5) Wait for discount days

Every single month I receive email after email from different companies telling me about the offers/ discounts currently available. Honestly, for years I went without buying a MAC lipstick until Debenhams would have their 10% off beauty event or I was able to shop duty free as I knew I could save the extra money. Doing this not only gives me the time to actually think about the purchase and see if I still want it after the 3 months, BUT I save a little extra money at the same time.

6) Buy discounted products e.g. Cheshire Oaks, eBay, Depop

Buying discounted products is also a fab thing to do when you're on a budget! I'm lucky to live only 40 minutes away from Cheshire Oaks which is a designer outlet village, they have a shop which sells MAC, Estee Lauder and Bobbi Brown just to name a few all at discounted prices. I always pick up my Estee Lauder Double Wear from there and save around £8 every time. I've seen a lot of people sell unwanted Jo Malone candles on Depop for a fraction of the price, it's definitely a good way to afford luxury if you can't buy it full price.

7) Work out just how much you can afford to spend 

Like most people who are reading this, I absolutely love tying out new beauty products and building up my collection so of-course I like to dedicate some of my money to it! I have started to work out just how much after all bills/ monthly expenses I can actually afford to spend on beauty. Some months I'll have more than others, but actually planning out my spending has really helped me make more mindful purchases and stick to my wishlist. I'm currently waiting for Boots or Superdrug to have a 3 for 2 because there are some affordable makeup products I want to try.

8) Work with what you've got! 

This is another big one for me, I'll sometimes reach a point where I feel uninspired if I don't buy anything new one month - yet I have a whole draw full of makeup! I've started taking a close look at the beauty products I already have and think of ways that I can create engaging and useful content with that. An example of this is my contouring post, I really enjoyed creating that and it was a post featuring products that I already had in my collection, absolutely nothing new. This post has also cost me nothing to create, so as a beauty blogger there are definitely ways around it and ways to still talk beauty without having new products. There are also so many posts by other bloggers sharing their '50 Blog Post Ideas', so when you are stuck referring to this can be refreshing and help to park new ideas. Daisy from weardaisywent has wrote a good post for this!

I hope some of you have found it useful! Sometimes I feel like I'm the only beauty blogger that can't afford to continually buy new products, which I know isn't the case at all but I don't see many speak about the financial cost of being a beauty blogger and how it can get pricey if you let it!

Do you have any tips on beauty blogging on a budget?

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